


Never Forget

by MidnightRains



Category: Manifest (TV 2018), Manifest (TV)
Genre: Angst, Child Angst, Loss of family members, Manifest TV, Other, Stream of Conscious writing, Twin Bond
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-07-28 19:51:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16248680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightRains/pseuds/MidnightRains
Summary: Olive Stone struggles to accept the reality of Flight 828 disappearing.





	1. Chapter 1

Something's wrong. I don't know what, but I know something is happening, or something has happened. Something isn't right. I feel it, I can't really explain it. It's just...there. Like a shadow up ahead. I can see it, but I can't see exactly what it is. I know that doesn't make sense, but I don't know how to explain it any other way.

I look up and Mom's gone. Panic rises like bile in my throat, but then I see her. She's talking to some airport official, he's wearing a navy blue uniform and he's got that 'I'm someone important' air about him that like cops and principals get. And whatever he's telling her, Mom's just kind of staring at him, like she doesn't believe it, or she can't believe it. 

I remember when we found out Cal had Leukemia, Mom was the rock the rest of us leaned on. I heard her crying in her room sometimes at night, but she never let me or Cal see her break down. My dad, though, he was a wreck. He's always been more emotional than Mom. At least outwardly. It's not like my mom's a robot or anything. She has emotions. She just doesn't always let us see them. She wants to be strong for us, I get that. And especially with Cal being sick like he is. It's important for her to be strong for him, and for me I guess. Cal's not just my brother. He's my twin. He's my best friend even though we fight sometimes. 

Oh crap. I just realized Cal and Dad should be getting in soon. Their flight left a little after ours, and we've been waiting for them for about an hour. We've got our luggage and everything, Grandma and Grandpa already left. Mom and I are waiting for Dad and Cal and Aunt Michaela. I know Mom's not happy Dad decided to go on the later flight with Aunt Michaela, and she's really not happy Cal stayed with him. I'm kind of annoyed too because I wanted to go with Dad. He's always so busy lately, and like we hardly ever see him anymore. 

But Cal jumped up first, and I knew Mom wouldn't let us both go with him. Or maybe she would have gone on the later flight too. Maybe Grandma and Grandpa would have switched flights too, and we all could have gone together. But I knew Cal was excited about some alone time with Dad. Even if Aunt Michaela was there, it'd be one on one with Dad without me or Mom, and he probably doesn't have much time left, so I kept my mouth shut and let him go with Dad without me, and without Mom. It's the least I could do, because when he's gone, I'll have them both all to myself all the time. And you want to know something? As great as that sounds, I don't want that. I want my brother to live a long, healthy life. 

I know that's not going to happen. I've heard Mom and Dad talking about it. They say he has six months, maybe a year left. Not long at all. He might not turn twelve. he's definitely not going to ever be a teenager. And it's not right and it's not fair. Cal never did anything to anyone. He's never hurt anyone, and I don't think I've ever even heard him say a mean word to anyone. He's just not like that. Even when he has a bad day, and he's grumpy, he smiles and tells everyone that he's fine. He doesn't want anyone to be sad or upset on account of him. 

Mom's standing there, her hand over her mouth and she looks like she wants to scream and cry and throw down. I know she won't, but it's kind of weird to see her like this. I feel really weird. Awkward. Like should I go over there? Should I look away? I don't know what to do, and before I can even figure it out, Mom's coming over to me and she's got her arms out and she pulls me to her chest and holds me tight and kisses the top of my head and my temple and that makes me feel really weird, even weirder than I felt watching her a minute ago.

"Mom. You're scaring me." I push back, trying to get out of the circle of her arms. "Mom. What's wrong?" 

"Your father..." she started, and choked over the words. Did something happen to Dad? He's healthy, but people get sick, suddenly, all the time. "The plane," she starts again, stops, and shakes her head. The airport man she'd been talking to comes over and put a hand on Mom's shoulder. 

"Your father's plane dropped off the radar," the man says. His eyes are soft, like he's concerned.

I don't really know what that means. I mean, I know air traffic controllers track planes on radar. I understand the gist of it. But not how it really, actually works. "What does that mean?" I ask, and my mom is stroking my hair. Grandma braided it before we got on the plane in Jamaica. Some of it has fallen out, but the braid is still done up. 

"It means we don't know where the plane is," the man explains. Except that doesn't really explain anything. I realise it means my dad and my brother and my aunt are missing. But planes don't just disappear out of the sky. That's impossible. So maybe it's dropped off the radar, but that doesn't mean it's gone. It'll come back. Or it'll land soon and my dad and Cal and Aunt Michaela will come off the plane and laugh about the whole thing. 

I'd know if something was wrong with Cal. We're twins. We have a bond most other people don't have. He's more than just my brother, more than just my best friend. He's my other half.


	2. How is that better?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olive has a lot of thoughts rolling around in her head.

The first couple of days after Flight 828 went missing were strange. I felt like I was trapped in a dream or something. Confusion surrounded everything I thought, and even though I went through the motions as they say, I felt like a spectator in my own life. it's hard to explain, but it's like I was watching everything that happened to me, and everything I did, from a distance. Like when I opened the fridge to get the milk, even though I knew I was the one doing it, it felt like I was merely watching someone else grab the carton and the glass from the cupboard. 

I didn't want to go outside because I felt disconnected from the world. I'd feel the sun on my face, but it felt like it was shining on someone else and I was just feeling it by association. Does that make sense? I feel like it does and it doesn't at the same time. Words are hard. I really don't know how to explain it. I guess if something was going to defy explanation, it would be how it feels to deal with the loss of your father and your brother all at once, and without any real answers about what happened to them.

They're just...gone. The plane vanished. One second it was there on the radar, and then it wasn't. I mean, I guess that's what happened. No one tells me anything because I'm just a kid, and I'm not sure Mom tells me everything. I'm sure she's left out some of the details, for whatever reason. Because I'm a kid, because she wants to protect me, because maybe the truth is worse than silence. 

I watched the news the first day or two, before Mom told me not to. The reporters don't really know anything, she said, but they make things up to fill in the gaps and holes, and to try to get more ratings. She told me I can't believe anything I hear on the news, and it would confuse me, so it's better that I don't watch. I guess maybe she's right. 

But it's frustrating, because I want to know what happened to my dad and Cal. The problem is that no one knows. My aunt was on the plane too. That's half my family, just gone. There's no indication of a crash, but Mom says they're looking for wreckage in the area where the plane disappeared. I hope they'll find something, but I don't think they will. 

Honestly, I don't know why I thought that. It's really weird. I can still feel Cal. We're twins, and even though we're not identical, we have a twin bond. He's not dead. I know he's not dead. But I can't say it out loud because when I did, when I tried to tell my mom that I still feel him, she didn't want to hear it. She said I was wrong, that he's gone and the sooner I accept that the better it will be. 

How is that better? It's not better. Even if I did accept it, there's still no proof. There's no answers. My dad and my brother and my aunt are missing. The entire plane disappeared. No one knows where it went. No one knows where it _is_. Everyone wants to say they're dead, but they're not. I don't believe it. I won't believe it. I _can't_ believe it. 

It's only been eight days. Even if they crashed somewhere, they could be alive. Maybe hurt, but alive. People can survive for a really long time in harsh conditions, and my dad's the toughest guy I know. I just won't think about the fact Cal won't get his treatments. He'll be fine. He has to be fine. He's going to be okay, and he's going to come home. 

They're all going to come home. Anything else is unacceptable. I need my daddy. And if my brother is going to die, I need to tell him I love him and he's my best friend ever just one more time, because we didn't say anything when he decided to go with Dad on the delayed flight. Delayed. That's all it is. Where ever they are, they're just delayed. 

They'll be home soon.

**Author's Note:**

> First Fic on AO3. Please let me know what you think!


End file.
